Comments on: MouseTrapped! How can I make my mouse load faster in Win 7?

Question: MouseTrapped! How can I make my mouse load faster in Win 7?

newfers — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:12:13 -0800

Why is my USB mouse the last item to load when Windows 7 is finished booting up? Sometimes I have to wait while it recognizes external USB drives, and in the meantime, I have no control over my mouse. Is there a way to change the order which my USB devices load?

I suppose I could just haphazardly unplug and re-plug my USB devices to see if it changes the load order, but I suspect there must be a software solution to give my mouse priority over all my other USB devices. You would think it wouldn't make much of a difference, but it does. It makes me feel like my system has crashed for that 30 seconds or so when I see my desktop but have no mouse control.

By: datacenter refugee

datacenter refugee — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:20:14 -0800

Model of machine and/or motherboard if built? I ask because I'm wondering if there's not a BIOS option that would help.

By: newfers

newfers — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:23:02 -0800

It's a Dell Inspiron 531, and I suspect (but don't know) that a BIOS option won't help, since my mouse loaded quickly enough in Vista. This is a recent install of Windows 7, and now the mouse has moved to the end of the line.

Nonetheless, I will look at the BIOS settings...hadn't considered it, truthfully...

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:29:31 -0800

I've seen this behaviour on Windows XP, but only when a USB mouse is plugged in for the first time. Could it be that Windows 7 is simply forgetting that your USB mouse exists? Are you using the standard Microsoft HID driver, or a fancy-schmancy manufacturer-provided one? Check the Device Manager to find out. If you've got non-generic mouse control software of any kind installed, I recommend removing it - most of that stuff is way more trouble than it's worth.

By: 0xFCAF

0xFCAF — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:39:33 -0800

Often the USB ports on the motherboard are actually in a USB "hub"-type device from the software perspective, except for the ones in the lower-left (where the keyboard/mouse inputs is/are). Try plugging the mouse in to one of those ports and see if things improve.

By: cmiller

cmiller — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:08:06 -0800

How much is between your mouse and computer? Maybe there's an unpowered USB hub in the mix that causes problems.

Rule out hardware weirdness first. Burn an Ubuntu CD and boot it to see if it finds your mouse any closer. If that demo mode finds your mouse soon, even booting off a dog-slow medium like CD, then it could be Windows' drivers or whatnot. If it's about the same time, then you should rearrange.

By: majortom1981

majortom1981 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:47:59 -0800

hmm this is a wierd problem we have tons of dell machines and i have a dell xps 410 with windows 7 that doesnt do this. Maybe a bad driver for the mouse . What is the mouse brand? That would really help.

By: chairface

chairface — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:36:50 -0800

I have a Windows 7 netbook that does this with the built-in touch pad. The cursor just freezes for around a minute after startup. The 7100 build preview of Windows 7 did not have this problem.